Baldur's Gate Baldur's Gate 3 RELEASE THREAD

[Lagole Gon]

So, what is the codex consensus? Is this game good? It's pure decline? Kingcomrade?

Gameplay is top quality, amazing combat and encounter design. Freedom to approach problems. Probably setting new standards here.

Some bugs in later parts. UI is rather bad.
Writing is often atrocious. Main plot feels like something written by a kid who got all DnD5 lore manuals for christmas. And he's going to use them. All at once. After mistaking mom's Adderal for candy.

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

Tactician is 80 a pop. I bypass a lot of combat (and fight half-cocked a good bit out of habit), but if I were murderhoboing it would be an upper bound on that.

I know, that's what I'm playing. It doesn't change a thing.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

I think I'm getting close to finishing Act 2, and I have a quick question about potential ways to do the Moonrise tower assault.

I freed the Nightsong gal before I walked into the towers and she zooms to them, cutscene with Jaheria who then grabs her gang and goes to assault them before I get back, leading to a mound of corpses at the entrance. What I want to know is if I clear the first and second floors before freeing her, will less Harpers die as a result? Most of the zealots I saw are killable, so I reloaded my save to run around and commit total moonrise genocide - im planning to go back and free her before I confront ketheric, I just want to know if doing it the genocidal way myself will change anything.

Prior to the assault, my party had already killed everything in Moonrise, except for the rooftop and the large entrance chamber where the two merchants are located. As a result,

Spoiler

The Harpers assisted in just a single fight against six enemies, though I convinced Jaheira to continue aiding me for the rooftop fight against Ketheric Thorm himself.

 

[Turjan]

Writing is mostly atrocious. Main plot feels like something written by a kid who got all DnD5 lore manuals for christmas. And he's going to use them. All at once. After mistaking mom's adderal for candy.

Sounds like a standard Forgotten Realms novel to me.

 

[ColonelMace]

Going back to why the encounter designs are shit, it goes deeper but at root it's a paint by numbers approach and tellingly based on their press releases pretty obviously entirely derived through base analytics rather than knowledge or experience and in creating solely for the lowest common denominator practically bar any extensive use of the grey matter to proceed. Which is indeed a crime on personal computers of the power we now have at home.

Contrast with the other extreme, take the sum total of battles in bg3 and compare with basically any scenario in knights of the chalice 2 where you have someone with a supreme knowledge of rules and their interactions coupled with a dash of sadism that lovingly crafted each setup to force the intellect to come in to play to force solutions on the fly instead based on pertinent variables and rigid within the rules of the game. Chess hasnt been around for this long

99% of the combat is click to win which makes sense considering they're using click per minute variables as the basis instead of logic and they wantonly butchered even the already watered down disaster of 5e but low level dnd has always been incredibly lethal and it was only by the grace of your dm Uncle Terry if you could keep going with your character or have to reroll which could happen in any single combat in any early level adventure, until the modern day of course but given bg3 obsession with background analytics governing design decisions we're left with the worst combo possible of bland, flavourless franchise food. Most people out there can easily crush a couple of big macs and enjoy it until it comes out the other end anyway, leaving your ass guaranteed ragged and blown out. You get the exact same experience every time you long rest in this game, quite often literally.

Its not even a question really of enjoyment as we all eat junk food from time to time but can a subway sandwich ever be the pinnacle of culinary taste? Jackson Pollack painted as good as Rembrandt I guess because it sells for a few million. I'm not saying we have a bunch of absolute masterpieces in the hobby but there is the concept of craft and pride of work. You can draw circles around the content of the game developed by the different teams in different parts of the world under different directives and it culminates in a paycheque coming every two weeks, decidedly not a passion project and it practically glows in encounters.

It is perhaps ironic that the most expensive and most profitable rpg made in history is simultaneously the maxima of peak decline but this scenario was foretold long ago anyway so not surprising in the slightest but still disappointing.

It might very well be the best day old sandwich someones ever eaten at an airport in New Jersey but Swens click to win Dad dungeon is not the best rpg ever made, give me a break.

I've played KOTC2 and it was a borefest. I'd rather play with minis and dice than subject myself to its visuals. Its philosophy is summed up as the developer screaming "gotcha, player" and out-munchkining the player. You want to progress - save often and reload. Wow, I'm such a good player. Peak gameplay.

This is kind of true.
The more time passes, the less I care about pseudo-smart designs and setups. Shit that feels stale but which "finally respects my huge brains and elite status".
This is such a deadend when it comes to game design. And any sort of creation even loosely connected to art.

It's cinemasins-tier of braindead criticism.

Being so cautious about the apparent flaws of anything you could be associated with in general, reeks of superficiality and insecurity.

BGIII is good. It's a generous, colorful adventure game featuring tons of exploration, combat and options to move the party forward. It features myriads of things hidden here and there, set to reward said exploration and so it does.
Is most of it designed for short attention span coomers who can't optimise their party for shit and require some sort of theme park hook every ten minutes ? Absolutely it is ! And it still matters fuck all.
If you can't disregard inconsequential shit, it's your problem, really.

 

[Swen]

"MUHHH WRIITINNGGG!!!!"

Writing is good besides a couple of cringe lines you fags.

 

[Grauken]

"MUHHH WRIITINNGGG!!!!"

Writing is good besides a couple of cringe lines you fags.

It's solid. Does what it's supposed to do, doesn't feel too stilted or unnatural. Characters stay true to their concept and have lots of fitting dialogue. I haven't met Karlach yet so who knows though.

Atrocious? Don't make me laugh, whoever says that clearly doesn't read a lot

 

[Swen]

Fedora Master yes, I am serious. It's the best RPG ever made, period. And this comes from someone who has been gaming since the 80s and has played a wide range of RPGs, unlike some posers lamenting the supposed decline of the genre but hardly played anything. The only thing lacking is a Switch version, so i can share this incredible experience with some younger gamers in family.

BASED


This is the truth.

BG3 is rated the best PC game of ALL TIME on metacritic. Rest of the losers will keep on crying but the facts are the facts.

 

[AwesomeButton]

So, what is the codex consensus? Is this game good? It's pure decline? Kingcomrade?

Best cRPG in a long time

BG3 is an unheard-of case of a Codex-worthy mainstream RPG :

* Reactivity to class/race -- unparalleled
* Evil path / multiple outcomes to quests -- at least viable, if not on par with the good path, the verdict is pending
* "Roll with failed checks" gameplay - provided! Show me another RPG that does that, in the last 20 years.
* Killable NPCs, including plot-important ones -- check.
The above sum up as "Choice & Consequence", a term coined here afaik. And then you also have:
* Combat -- D&D mechanics and monsters! Yes, 5e, but that's mandated by WotC :trollface: The worst I've heard so far about the combat is that Tactician needs balancing, which is achievable with mods.
* Exploration -- check.
Bonus:
* Can play as a tranny!

So, "is this game good"? "Is it pure decline?"

Haters put their eggs in the hate basket during the Early Access, and now are clutching at straws to shittalk the game - "muh culture wars", "watch out, gays!", "it's not KOTC2 combat", "the writing is not Tolstoyevski-grade", boo-hoo. BG3 is actually more inclined than much of the Codex top 20. It's just a lot of butthurt and fear of loss of internet cred.

 

[Nifft Batuff]

The only thing lacking is a Switch version, so i can share this incredible experience with some younger gamers in family.

...


Are they prepared for the bear sex? It is a pity that a good game like this, that could ignite some interest in classic RPGs by the younger minds, is so front loaded with aggressive bad taste sex jokes.

 

[Konjad]

Easily the best RPG released in years. It has its drawbacks (aplenty, even), but the things it does well it does amazingly great. I'm surprised how good it is, I haven't been hooked to a game this much since the first time I played Prelude to Darkness like 5 years ago. I don't want to go to work, I just want to play, I go to sleep late because I want to play just half an hour more, then another half, and another. Despite subpar writing and plenty of bugs it's just extremely fun because the gameplay is just that good.

 

[Ryzer]

I would say it proudly and loudly, act 1 is a solid 9/10 to 10/10.

It's great on all levels: exploration, enemy variety, dialogues, quests, reactivity, C&C.

It's EXCELLENT.

 

[Sunri]

If they fix bugs it's goty for sure

 

[Grauken]

If they fix bugs it's goty for sure

you have the perfect avatar for this thread

 

[AwesomeButton]

TheHeroOfTime , ou see what the problem is here - I can back the argument that BG3 is a good RPG. The haters can't back the argument that it's a bad one.

 

[perfectslumbers]

What competition does it even have for GOTY? Space Fallout?

 

[Vic]

I would say it proudly and loudly, act 1 is a solid 9/10 to 10/10.

It's great on all levels: exploration, enemy variety, dialogues, quests, reactivity, C&C.

It's EXCELLENT.

way too much loot. How realistic is it that there is food in chests everywhere and you’re like a hobo stuffing it all in your backpack.

 

[AwesomeButton]

What competition does it even have for GOTY? Space Fallout?

For me this year, only "The New World" aka "Colony Ship: A Post-Earth Role Playing Game". Starfield should be fun, but I expect more of the same TES gameplay. Cyberpunk - if we assume the 2.0 to be the real release as intended and let it compete in 2023. Not a bad year for RPGs 2023, if you squint here and there.

 

[Konjad]

TheHeroOfTime , ou see what the problem is here - I can back the argument that BG3 is a good RPG. The haters can't back the argument that it's a bad one.

What do you mean, THIS GAME IS TERRIBLE BECAUSE YOU CAN MAKE A GIRL WITH A DICK, NOTHING ELSE MATTERS, THE GAMEPLAY IS COMPLETELY RUINED!!!!!

 

[koyota]

So how does time work in this game? I just learned some quests are time sensitive. I'm the kind of person who just likes to hang around the same area indefinitely, looking for every nook or cranny and shit like that. No sure if doing idle stuff makes time go by. Same for traveling around the map, or traveling in and out of camp. Right now i haven't rested a single time and none of my npcs are asking to go to sleep or anything like that so i'm not sure if time just stands still until you actually rest.

Traveling between areas and resting causes time to pass. Certain events will also activate if you get close and then finish if you don't intervene. Like an NPC might fight some enemies and if you don't get involved he'll die.

Noticed that Scrolling the camera seems to act as a trigger for activating these events or adding extra NPCS to combat?
It has led to weird situations like activating the

Spoiler

Rolan attacked by shadows / short people being yelled in front of the Monastery

in Act 2.
Having my party rummaging through boxes on the other side of the limit of where a camera can scroll to, making it impossible to get there in time.

 

[Parabalus]

There's a ring on a strange ox in the druid grove which gives you +1d4 on all checks while shapeshifted, it works with the Mask of the Shapeshifter, so unconditionally all the time. Not bad.

 

[Konjad]

What competition does it even have for GOTY? Space Fallout?

For me this year, only "The New World" aka "Colony Ship: A Post-Earth Role Playing Game". Starfield should be fun, but I expect more of the same TES gameplay. Cyberpunk - if we assume the 2.0 to be the real release as intended and let it compete in 2023. Not a bad year for RPGs 2023, if you squint here and there.

Colony Ship is a strong contender, but Starfield? It's just fallout 76 with arcade space combat. Knowing Bethesda, I can bet the writing will be shit too. If Starfield is a 6/10 game I'll be pleasantly surprised.

 

[perfectslumbers]

For me this year, only "The New World" aka "Colony Ship: A Post-Earth Role Playing Game". Starfield should be fun, but I expect more of the same TES gameplay. Cyberpunk - if we assume the 2.0 to be the real release as intended and let it compete in 2023. Not a bad year for RPGs 2023, if you squint here and there.

Came out in December (so technically goty eligible), but Fear and Hunger: Termina is a great horror rpg as well.

Rogue Trader could also come out this year

 

[Reinhardt]

kinda bored. didn't launched it for 2 days. still in act 1.

 

[d1r]

I actually had to hire a cleric henchman because of things that happened

Spoiler

between Shadowheart and Lazael

and holy shit, who desgined those henchmen? Almost EVERY ONE of them looks like a dumpster fire, 100% created by a internee tranny reject. I didn't even know that you can't create a character yourself, but had to choose one from a list of pregenerated ones. Seriously, what the heck is up with that? And ofc, the henchman have no story or other interesting story tidbits. Just soulless entities that take orders. If these henchmen have absolutely nothing to say, what is even the reason of not letting us create henchmen of our own? Absolute garbage design.